E-commerce Trends: What to Expect?

The term itself originated in the United States, where the first online sale was made – on August 11, 1994, Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales disc was sold using an encrypted transaction. Since then, despite numerous difficulties, the sphere has become more and more popular, and the pandemic has only pushed it to the peak of development. Let’s consider the popular trends that are relevant today with SECLGroup team.

The growth of e-commerce

Oberlo, partnering with Shopify and AliExpress platforms, predicts a meteoric rise in online sales by 2024. According to experts, the turnover of e-commerce in the world will amount to 6.4 trillion dollars.

Manufacturers become retailers (D2C)

The D2C (Direct-To-Consumer) business model allows companies to supply goods to consumers without intermediaries and dealers. Business owners have realized that a significant part of all revenue goes to intermediaries, so entrepreneurs increasingly prefer to communicate directly with consumers, establishing long-term relationships with them.

Niche business

The availability of the Internet is both an advantage and a disadvantage for businessmen. The advantages are a low entry threshold and a quick start of a business. The disadvantages include high competition in almost all areas of online business.

In order to stand out from the competition, companies are increasingly resorting to narrowing their niche and concentrating on a small list of goods or services.

Emphasis on mobile commerce

According to Oberlo forecasts, the growth of e-commerce worldwide is expected in the near future. One of the main reasons is the increase in the use of gadgets. From mobile devices, users view reviews and study products. As a rule, customers make purchases from stationary devices, so it is important that the site is optimized for smartphones.

Development of omnichannel communication

The trend for seamless communication with the consumer through multiple advertising channels have been around for a long time. Still considered an effective way to interact with customers.

Today, there are enough tools to advertise your product. It remains to find the most suitable bundles and correctly prescribe the sales funnel.

Types of e-commerce

E-commerce can be divided into 7 groups depending on the target audience with which the company interacts.

B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

The most common type of online business. Niche “Business for the consumer” – commercial relations between the company and the client through Internet platforms. Online stores sell goods or provide services directly (without retail).

B2B (Business-to-Business)

Business-to-Business is the trade in goods and services between companies. Producers enter into transactions with each other to sell, buy or exchange products.

B2G (Business-to-Government)

B2G – economic relations between business and government, carried out on the basis of competitions, tenders, and quotations. Such a system is characterized by high requirements for performers and large transaction sizes.

С2С (Consumer-to-Consumer)

Such a scheme implies the implementation of commercial activities between individuals. An excellent example of the “Consumer for Consumer” segment is Internet services for placing advertisements.

G2C (Government-to-Citizens)

The G2C segment “State for Citizens” is responsible for providing access to state information through web portals. With the help of such services, you can pay taxes, utilities, or, for example, fines for traffic violations.

C2B (Consumer-to-Business)

The C2B scheme involves online shopping transactions between consumers and businesses. In such an economic model, customers themselves set the price of the product, and the manufacturer agrees to the deal or refuses it.

G2G (Government-to-Government)

G2G is an interesting type of e-commerce. Which is understood as the business relations of state bodies among themselves, namely: the supply of products, the provision of services, and the implementation of other domestic processes.

B2P (Business-to-Partners) or B2L (Business-to-aLLiance)

The “Business for partners” niche involves the interaction of companies with branches, partners of third-party organizations, and joint ventures.

B2E (Business-to-Employee)

This is the relationship between the company and employees (employees) to solve corporate problems. For example, a business can help employees with solving insurance issues or announce a corporate party.

B2B2С (Business-to-Business-to-Customer)

This economic model is a symbiosis of two different types of e-commerce – B2B and B2C. The combination of the B2B niche and the B2C niche is an effective example of collaboration.

For example, a company that buys goods in China makes a deal with Cargo warehouses to send orders to buyers’ addresses. A chain of the form is formed: the seller company (B2B) – the warehouse (B2B) – the buyer (B2C).

E2E (Exchange-to-Exchange)

E2E is the union of two or more Internet exchanges for economic activity between them. An e-currency exchange service is a great example of the Exchange for Exchange business model.

Logistics

Fulfillment of orders is an integral process, without which online stores do not exist. To stand out from the competition, e-commerce companies must take care to find the best ways to deliver goods.

Often, small online stores control logistics operations on their own. However, medium and large enterprises hire contractors who specialize in the implementation of logistics functions.

The main types of electronic payments used on the Internet

When placing an order, it is important to provide the customer with multiple payment options. Let’s get acquainted with the main types of electronic payments.

• Direct bank transfer.
• Payment through payment aggregators (PayPal, QIWI Checkout).
• Payment in cash upon receipt of the order.

Conclusion

Internet trading is primarily a convenient way to make transactions between a buyer and a seller. To make a purchase, you need to go to the virtual trading platform and pay for the order using any of the proposed methods.

The modern world can no longer be imagined without the e-commerce niche because users are accustomed to a comfortable way of communicating with a company. Customers no longer need to spend precious time to get to the point of sale and stand in line for hours. Now you just need to go to the site and place an order.

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